In evolving and next generation wireless networks, an uplink grant-less random access (RA) scheme can be employed to reduce signaling overhead and support traffic and applications with stringent latency requirements. For example, for applications such as gaming, or real time video streaming, real-time streams require very low latency and reliable transmissions. For the random access scheme in uplink, sparse-code-multiple access (SCMA) technology can be used for overloading traffic where multiple users can share the same radio resources simultaneously. A fixed modulation and coding scheme (MCS) such as Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QSPK) is also used in order to achieve more reliable communications. In many conventional Radio Access Networks (RANs), a random access channel is used by a terminal to request a scheduled transmission slot. As a result, communications over the random access channel tend to be very short, and use of a robust MCS is favored to afford a maximum likelihood of transmission success. There has been increased interest in the use of the random access channels for data transmissions. However, the use of a very robust MCS may not always be necessary, and when it is not necessary it contributes to a reduction in the efficient use of the spectrum. At present, there is no mechanism to allow for increased efficiency in the random access data communication. To support more users, more aggressive modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) may be beneficial for user equipment (UE) such as when the UE has proper channel conditions or location/geometry in the network. Therefore, there is a need for a link adaptation (LA) scheme for uplink grant-less RA according to such conditions.